Strict Standards: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EST/-5.0/no DST' instead in /homepages/18/d163655616/htdocs/forum/viewtopic.php on line 943

Strict Standards: getdate(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/New_York' for 'EST/-5.0/no DST' instead in /homepages/18/d163655616/htdocs/forum/viewtopic.php on line 943[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3824: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /viewtopic.php:943)[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3826: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /viewtopic.php:943)[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3827: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /viewtopic.php:943)[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3828: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /viewtopic.php:943)SKY-MAP.ORG / WIKISKY • View topic - * Most Massive Star Discovered

The most massive star known in the universe has been discovered and "weighed," astronomers announced today.

The star, part of a binary system, topped the scales at 114 times the mass of the sun.

Though astronomers suspected that stars with masses up to 150 times the mass of the sun must exist, this discovery marks the first time a star has broken the 100-solar-mass barrier. The previous record holder was only a measly 83 solar masses.

The newly weighed star, known simply as A1, is the brightest hot star at the heart of a giant, but dense, young star cluster called NGC 3603, which lies 20,000 light-years from Earth. The star's companion has a mass 84 times that of the sun.

These massive stars were "weighed" by inspecting their orbits with the Very Large Telescope and combining that data with eclipses observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Stars have a mass limit of 150 solar masses because above that, the pressure pushing outward from the star overwhelms the inward pull of gravity and causes the star to become unstable.

In the early universe, however, stars with masses up to several hundred times that of the sun are believed to have existed because the pressure in the stars was not as high because the heavier elements had not yet been "cooked" by the nuclear fusion taking place in the cores of stars.

The discovery was announced at the annual meeting of the Canadian Astronomical Society.

Tuguldur wrote:yeah, it would be very bright object probably will be visible in broad daylight! imagine what thing we're observing chinese in 1054-the crab! Unfortunately we'll need to travel south....heheBTW, Eta Carinae is about 7500ly away, so as you've said only the satellites may get a tiny 'hit'. Tuugii

Speaking to the media, Samiti general secretary Nithyananda Volakad, who is also a councillor of the Udupi City Muncipal Council said: "By this time, rain should have poured heavily. People of the district especially farmers have been suffering due to want of sufficient as rains. So we organised the frog marriage to please the rain god. We hope it will pour soon." As it was an unusual ceremony in the Coastal Karnataka, some termed it publicity gimmick by the organisers. Many objected the torturing of frogs.ssion.